Anyone who saw UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey dominate and defeat number one contender Cat Zingano yesterday would have no doubt seen every second of the title fight.
All 14 of them.
In her last two title defences, Ronda ‘Rowdy’ Rousey has seen a grand total of 30 seconds of action while disposing of two world class challengers.
Make no mistake, recent challenge Cat Zingano was no ‘gimme’. Coming into the fight she was undefeated in nine fights, including eight finishes.
In terms of available competition, she – at least on paper – looked to be Rousey’s biggest challenge to date.
Those in Australia who watched UFC 184, including the 14-second main event, paid $50 for the privilege.
Some in the States reported paying $60.
While the card was a solid one top to bottom, and included the UFC debut of Holly Holm, as with most pay-per-view events, the main match-up is the biggest selling point.
This poses an interesting question for the UFC – is Ronda Rousey too good to headline PPPVs?
To be fair, the original main event of the show was set to be Chris Weidman versus Vitor Belfort, with the UFC Middleweight title on the line, but an injury to the champion saw Rousey versus Zingano elevated to the show’s closing bout.
Rousey, often referred to as the UFC’s biggest star, is in no way at fault. She is paid to dismantle her challengers, and has earned every cent of her paycheque to date.
Her longest fight inside the octagon was an early third-round stoppage of rival Miesha Tate. Each of her other UFC, and career, bouts have ended inside the first round.
I think the majority of fight fans will agree that they do not like to see fights go to the scorecards. They, as I do, want to see fights won by finish, leaving no doubt who the dominant fighter is.
That being said, I doubt anyone leaves feeling overly thrilled that they paid $50 for a below 15-second Main Event.
The world’s largest PPV drawcard, boxing’s pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather, is undefeated in 47 fights. However only one if his past 12 fights has ended inside ten rounds.
That being said, Mike Tyson never guaranteed 12-round fights yet was a monster on PPV. I guess, when ordering combat sport PPVs, that’s the risk you take.
Would you take the risk of dropping $50 on Ronda’s next headline fight, knowing it could likely end within 20 seconds?
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